The Wilderness* Is A Cruel Master
Wilkin Tibbett is but fifteen years old when his father is found at the foot of a cliff, dead from a fall. The smell of alcohol is strong. The Bree-folk wonder; what has been the cause of his demise? Considering the tool-maker's erratic nature, was it an accident, or was it self-inflicted? As if to silence these rumours, John Tibbett is buried quickly and privately. Only the nearest family and a few close customers are present; and so everyone is surprised when a number of strange, grey-clad men emerge from the bushes. Wilkin has never seen them before; but he hears the others whisper. Rangers, they murmur in antipathy. Dúnedain. What does this reclusive folk want with his family?
One of them, a tall, kingly looking man, takes his mother aside. They exchange quiet words, and not soon after, she packs her two children up and follows the rangers into a hidden settlement between the rivers Loudwater and Hoarwell. It is here that the young lad is confronted with the truth of his heritage: through his veins runs the blood of the Dúnedain, the noble men of Westernesse. Right away, he is accepted as one of their own, and agrees to be trained in their ways to become, as them, a silent and invisible protector of Eriador. Tirirandir, he is now called; the wandering watcher.
As is custom, each young boy is entrusted to the care and training of a senior ranger, who takes the lad with him on his journeys to show him how to survive the wilderness. Tirnel is chosen by a ranger called Elegost, a descendant of the Princes of Cardolan. While their heritage could hardly be more different, there is a lot they have in common, and so they quickly become great friends.
